Old Fashioned Homemade Noodles

This recipe for Homemade Noodles has been handed down for many generations in my family. My mommy taught me and she learned it from my dad’s mom, Granny Helen who learned it from her German Mother. Granny Helen’s maiden name was Hans. I never really paid much attention to ancestry as a kid but during a trip in 2010 to Bavaria, while sitting in the perfect European restaurant in the center of Munich with an atmosphere much like Restaurant Felix in Christmas in Connecticut (I know, Uncle Felix is from Budapest and his restaurant is New York. Whatever! It’s one of the movies that plays over and over this time of year at the Davis house.) Anyway, I was biting into a spoonful of spaetzle when…

Ding, Ding, Ding!! Needless to say, after that I inquired about my ancestry a little more and confirmed that my Great Grandmother Hans on my father’s side gave us this recipe. Recently, I made just the noodles and created a beefy sauce rather than the creamy chicken and noodle dish here and it was delicious with schnitzel. I will post that another day! This creamy hearty version is something we made nearly every weekend in my house in Colorado growing up. With Little House on the Prairie or Lawrence Welk on the television, my mom and Granny would be rolling out the dough, letting it dry, preparing the broth. Well, let’s just get to it, I’m starving as I sit here writing it!

First get out the eggs, flour and a mixer if you want to make things easier.

Mix the eggs, adding flour a cup at a time until it is still somewhat sticky (because you will be adding more as you roll it out)…You can roll it out onto newspaper or right on the counter like I did in theses pictures. Greg’s mom has a FABULOUS! kitchen and she never complains when the girls and I make messes and use it as a test kitchen! She is very easy going. One time I completely re-arranged her entire pantry and even Savannah began to get a little impatient with me as I sorted and plotted where to put things. I had the entire kitchen and dining room in disarray one Saturday…Anyway, spread about a cup on the surface and begin rolling it out.

Roll out the dough, adding little bits of flour as needed… Just keep working it out and don’t get frustrated. You are doing Great! Let this sit and dry for a couple hours while you deal with that pile of laundry you are avoiding. This is also a good time to begin boiling your Chicken and prepare the broth! (see below)

After 2-3 hours of drying, you may roll up the sheet of dough and slice thin slices through the roll. Don’t make the noodles too wide, maybe 1/2 inch ? or so. Then play with them and fluff them a bit with a little more four. It’s fun. They can just hang out awhile if you are not ready to cook them. Cook them about 20-30 minutes before serving time.

When you are ready, slowly begin to stir in a handful of noodles (carefully) at a time into your boiling broth. The extra flour on the noodles will make your soup creamy and YUM!

Ingredients:

Dough:

6 Eggs

5-7 Cups of Flour

Broth:

1 whole chicken

Water (enough to cover the chicken in your pot)

1 Box of Chicken Broth

1 can cream of chicken (or celery)

3 chicken bouillon cubes

2 Tbsp. Italian Seasonings (or 1 each of Parsley, Basil and Thyme)

Fresh Parsley for garnish (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. Lemon Pepper

Directions:

First make the noodle dough so it can dry. While your dough is drying, begin the broth…Place the cleaned chicken in a large pot and fill with water (just enough to cover chicken) You can also add a stalk of celery and a small cut up onion for added flavor in your broth then remove it when you go to pull the meat off the bone. Once the chicken is cooked. Turn off the burner and let it cool a bit. Once cooled remove the chicken and set aside until it is cool enough to take the meat off. At this point, your noodles have been drying nicely. After rolling and cutting the cute noodles so they can dry a little more, you can turn the pot of stock back on (med heat). Add the box of chicken broth, can of cream of chicken soup, herbs, bullion cubes and lemon pepper. Pull the meat off the bone and add the chunky pieces of chicken to your broth. Finally, 30 minutes or so before serving time, bring the broth to a boil and slowly stir in the floury noodles. They will take about 20 minutes to cook through depending on the thickness of the noodle. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!